Many students enjoy making their own plans to prepare for homecoming week, whether that be picking out outfits for spirit day, taking photos with their friends before the dance or buying tickets to the homecoming game. But how often do we address all the preparation that goes on behind the scenes? Underneath the hallway decorations, the ticket sales and the pep rally, is a team of students specifically dedicated to planning homecoming week for all of McCallum.
The current student body president, Olivia Pittman, took on the responsibility of planning for the homecoming dance. The senior student council members, including Pittman, decided on the theme “Rio,” based on the 2011 movie. Pittman planned to decorate the venue bright and colorful to make it feel like we’ve stepped into the actual movie.
“I always love it when the venue looks all decked out, so I knew we needed a solid theme for the dance,” Pittman said. “We also thought it would be fun because the movie Rio has a great soundtrack so we knew we could play some of those songs at the dance.”
In order to have a successful and smooth decorating process, student council split up into separate committees. The heads of the decoration committee were Pittman, senior class president Jill Hoffman, and junior class president Carson Duncan. From there, half of the student council members decorated, while the other half helped clean up. They also had to ensure that decorations were in their price range.
“We spent a good amount of time budgeting but also finding the best decorations that fit our theme,” Pittman said. “Then we had our sponsor talk to the book keeper to order them in time.”
While the seniors planned out the homecoming dance, the junior student council members also decided to plan around it by selling custom made homecoming bows and pins. Junior treasurer Lauren Brewer felt this would be a good opportunity to fundraise for the class of 2027’s prom.
“In previous years, most of the officers and a bunch of people on the student council had been ordering bows for their flowers from stores,” Brewer said. “We thought it would be a really cute idea to make our own [bows] for a cheaper price and have the ability to design them exactly how we want.”
After selling during many lunches and posting their online google form on Instagram, the junior student council members had around 80 bows to make. So, the whole team dedicated a day at vice president Berit Ellwanger’s house where they had the machine and the supplies to craft the bows.
“We had a full work day where we had different stations of people working on the bows to make sure that they were being made time efficiently, but also making sure that they are high-quality,” Brewer said.
The next piece that goes into the making of homecoming is the spirit day themes, Monday through Friday, followed by a pep rally on Friday before the football game. Emcees and seniors Emerson Merritt and Cheezey Bell prepped their costumes weeks in advance as a way to show their school spirit while also hosting the pep rally.
“Since it’s Rio day, we want to make sure that we go all out for that spirit day since a lot of people come to the pep rally,” Merritt said. “Cheezey and I have a duo Rio costume planned, we’re going to be the red and yellow birds from Rio, so it should be pretty fun.”
Other than planning outfits, the emcees got their schedule the week of and just showed up prepared to get McCallum excited for the homecoming game against Liberty Hill. For the football players, Blue Brigade and cheer hung custom made posters and decorations in their locker rooms.
“I think the players appreciate [the posters] because it lifts their morale to know that there are people in the school backing the team,” Junior Lieutenant Emma Simon said. “It’s a fun way to show school spirit.”
To boost the game, McCallum had their very own segment on the Today Show the morning before the game. The band, cheer team, Blue Brigade, color guard, and the football team were all featured at the House Park field. After a few rehearsals and preshots, McCallum went live with Coach Gammerdinger having his own interview.
“I love that a lot of people showed up and had a lot of spirit,” junior Blue Brigade member Davianna Rondero said. “It’s great that we have such a supporting community for our athletics.”
Besides the new segment this year, the dance is commonly the most anticipated event of the week.Combined with the efforts of student council as well as students’ own planning, McCallum’s homecoming is a success year after year.
“I enjoyed dressing up and doing my hair and makeup for events, along with taking photos,” Merritt said. “So I always have a lot of fun getting ready and seeing my friends at the dance.”